Chapter 123: Cheng Xi is Too Foolish

The group descended the mountain and returned to the Academy; Cheng Yunjian and his sister, along with Jiang Weiran, followed her back to the small courtyard, while Li Zhi'an sent them back, needing to go find the Dean to discuss matters regarding the Star Gate.

Cheng Xi saw him out, and Li Zhi'an held her hand, looking at her as he said gently, "Rest early; no need to wait for me."

Cheng Xi reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind his ear, then suddenly smiled, looking at Li Zhi'an as she said, "Alright. Ye Wujin is already dead, so the matter of the Star Gate will be much simpler."

Li Zhi'an smiled along with her, thinking to himself that with Ye Wujin dead, leaving only the Star Gate behind, this was merely the beginning.

With the Four Great Academies plus the Imperial Court, it was feared that everyone would want a piece of the pie; how to balance this matter was what mattered most.

However, there was no need to tell Cheng Xi about these things; she was unwilling to be involved in such trivialities, so it was better to let her live a relaxed life—he would handle all of this.

Li Zhi'an departed under the starlight, and Cheng Xi watched his back, smiling for a long while.

She returned to the room and saw the three of them still sitting there, and she was somewhat surprised, "Why haven't you gone to rest yet? You can stay in the west wing rooms as you please."

Cheng Yunjian stood up and bowed deeply to Cheng Xi, but Cheng Xi caught him, "What is this for?"

"Thanking you for saving my life."

"You encountered danger while doing things for me; saving you was only right," Cheng Xi said.

Cheng Yunjian looked at Cheng Xi, "Regardless of that, I must thank you."

There is a difference between being saved and being saved.

Cheng Xi had exhausted all her strength to save him, doing so with true sincerity; how could he not be grateful?

Cheng Fenglan stood up as well and saluted Cheng Xi, "My brother is right; this 'thank you' is deserved."

Cheng Xi looked at the two siblings, and only after a long while did she say, "Alright, then I accept it."

Cheng Yunjian breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Cheng Fenglan, saying, "Then we won't disturb you any further; you should get some good rest as well."

Cheng Fenglan supported her brother as they walked out, and seeing Jiang Weiran still standing there foolishly, she said, "Are you not leaving yet?"

"Oh, leaving now." Jiang Weiran walked out subconsciously, then turned back to look at Cheng Xi after a few steps, his expression conflicted.

Cheng Xi kicked him out.

Jiang Weiran:...

From outside the door came the sound of Cheng Fenglan's laughter, followed by Jiang Weiran's muttering, "Why did I have to take a kick? I contributed today too."

"Who told you to be stupid and not know how to read the room."

Cheng Fenglan's mocking voice drifted in.

Cheng Xi watched the three of them go to the west wing through the window, used a Dust-Clearing Technique to tidy herself up, and then collapsed onto the bed to sleep.

It actually wouldn't have mattered if she didn't sleep for days and nights, but she was truly tired after the great battle today; she had thought she wouldn't be able to sleep, but unexpectedly, she drifted into a dream the moment her head hit the pillow.

Baohua squatted at the head of her bed; as a piece of wood, it didn't need to rest, so it called Feng Huo out.

Feng Huo had also overdrawn herself heavily today and was listless, so Baohua dragged her to the Spirit Gathering Array; the moment Feng Huo entered, she felt much more comfortable, and the wood and the bird huddled together to whisper.

"Do you think Cheng Xi will enter the Wanxing Sect?" Feng Huo asked, looking at Baohua; Baohua had followed Cheng Xi for so long, it should have guessed something.

Upon hearing this, Baohua said, "How would I know? But shouldn't one first see if Li Zhi'an is going? They are an engaged couple; they can't just separate, right?"

"Huh, that makes sense. But this isn't a big deal; once through the Wanxing Sect, there will be more and better Cultivators over there, and Cheng Xi could find someone even better." Feng Huo said.

Baohua was stunned upon hearing this, "How could that work? Back then, when Jiang Weiran broke off the engagement with Cheng Xi, he had an arm cut off by Cheng Xi; now that it's her turn, she would absolutely never do such a shameless thing."

"There's such a thing? Tell me about it in detail..."

The night grew deeper, and Cheng Xi slept sweetly; it had been a long time since she had such good sleep.

By the time she woke up, the sun had already risen, and the daylight shone into the room through the window; Cheng Xi sat up, the golden sunlight spilling onto her body, making her feel lazy.

Faint sounds of conversation came from the courtyard, and Cheng Xi sniffed, catching the aroma of food.

She got up to wash and change before pushing the door open to go out.

Seeing her emerge, Cheng Fenglan said to her, "We were waiting for you to eat."

Cheng Xi stepped down the stairs, "Why wait for me? You should have just eaten."

Jiang Weiran said, "That won't do, sit down quickly."

Cheng Xi took her seat and glanced at the east wing room, and Cheng Yunjian said, "The Prince didn't return last night; presumably, there's no result yet regarding the Star Gate."

Cheng Xi nodded; the method to open the Wanxing Sect was already known, but how to distribute the quotas to enter the Star Gate was also a major matter—people do not worry about scarcity, but about inequality; they would surely argue for some days.

Cheng Xi took a sip of the porridge made from Spirit Rice, feeling her stomach warm up and become comfortable; although fasting was convenient, the joy of eating would disappear.

She was a worldly person and loved the fireworks of the human world.

After eating, Jiang Weiran took the initiative to clear the bowls and chopsticks; Cheng Fenglan cooked, Cheng Yunjian tended the fire, so he would just wash the dishes.

As for Cheng Xi, none of them thought to let her do anything.

After the meal, Cheng Xi looked at the three of them and asked, "What are your plans?"

The three of them fell into a rare silence.

Cheng Xi looked up at the sun, not in a hurry, slowly waiting for them to decide.

The first to speak was Cheng Fenglan; she looked at Cheng Xi and said, "I want to pass through the Star Gate; I want to become stronger, and I want to be able to control my own destiny. But I also know that the quotas to pass through the Star Gate are limited, and our cultivation is low, so we might not get a turn this time. If we cannot pass through the Star Gate, I want to ask if we can be allowed to stay at Qinghe Academy to cultivate and wait for the next opportunity."

Cheng Xi was actually a bit surprised as she looked at Cheng Fenglan; she was truly much more pragmatic than before, so she said, "I cannot answer whether or not that is possible for you, but you all performed meritorious service entering Wanxing Mountain this time; let's see what the result of their discussions is."

In any case, they would not treat those who performed meritorious service poorly; even if their cultivation was low, they hadn't retreated at the time and had done their best, which was enough.

Not everyone is born a powerhouse.

Hearing Cheng Xi's words, Cheng Fenglan was very happy and looked at Cheng Xi, asking, "What about you? Do you want to go over there?"

"I don't know," Cheng Xi said.

The three were stunned, "Don't know? What does that mean?"

Jiang Weiran was stunned for a moment, then asked somewhat anxiously, "In terms of merit, your quota is set in stone; how can you still not know?"

Cheng Yunjian looked at her thoughtfully, then said, "Are you waiting for the Prince's choice?"

"You could say that," Cheng Xi smiled, "Whether to go or not makes little difference to me."

She didn't have such a strong desire to seek the Dao and live forever; sometimes, living too long is also a form of suffering.

Jiang Weiran simply could not believe his ears, feeling that Cheng Xi had gone foolish, actually throwing away a bright future just for a Li Zhi'an.